Growing up in poverty not only affects your health, but also 1 gene out of 13 in addition

We all love a story that tells a lot, but the truth is that poverty never really leaves you. Not only does it have a lasting effect on your health and mental well-being, but growing poor makes you change at the genetic level.

A new study demonstrates the extent of the impact of poverty on our DNA, revealing that nearly 8% of our genome may be affected by chemical changes that may remain for life.

Researchers from across the United States and Canada have achieved this remarkable statistic by performing a complete genome badysis on just under 500 participants in the Philippine Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey conducted in Cebu.

Using genetic data and surveys from women who gave birth in the early 1980s, the team identified a relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and the trend toward gene modification by a process called epigenetics.

"First of all, we have long known that socio-economic status is a powerful determinant of health, but the underlying mechanisms through which our body" remembers "the experience of poverty are not known, "says Thomas McDade, a biological anthropologist at Northwestern University.

The process does not change the actual coding of genes, but is no less physical in terms of results.

The epigenetic involves chemical modifications of the DNA that prevent or improve the reading of a sequence. In such cases, the precise mechanism called methylation describes the addition of a methyl group to a gene, altering its transcription.

The phenomenon has attracted more and more attention in the areas of research in recent years, studies suggesting that everything from receiving a condition as an infant to the trauma of the disease, is a problem that has become more and more common. childhood, can cause your body to modify your genes.

The consequences are not insignificant either, they could affect cognitive development and even play a role in conditions such as autism spectrum disorders.

As McDade says, "There is no nature against feeding."

Our first life experiences not only shape our minds, but they literally change the way our body functions at a fundamental level. And with signs that epigenetic changes can be pbaded on from generation to generation, any potential cause must be taken seriously.

By applying tailored genetic probes to blood samples collected from the surveyed children around the age of 21, researchers identified more than 2,500 methylation sites affecting 1,537 genes among those identified as being high in low SES conditions.

Compared with children born in relative wealth, those who became poor later in life did not show any significant differences.

As current estimates estimate that the total number of genes encoding proteins in our genome is close to 20,000, we are considering modifications for nearly 8% of our genes. Other studies may reveal even more changes that were not evident in this survey.

Growing up poor is already badociated with significant health degradation for a variety of reasons.

Many of the causes are clearly understood. For example, the risks badociated with differences in diet, access to education, and medical availability may increase the risks of illness and poor mental health.

But there are also physiological changes related to poverty that may not always have convenient explanations, such as chronic inflammation, reduced cell-mediated immunity and increased resistance to insulin, which may result in health problems.

The study does not go as far as identifying precise links between methylated genes and their potential impacts on health, but many sites have already been involved in the development of important systems related to immunity and neurology.

Further research is expected to help fill in the missing details, showing how this amazing diversity of epigenetic changes allows people living in poverty to live a lifetime of suffering.

"These are the areas we will focus on to determine whether DNA methylation is really an important mechanism by which socio-economic status can leave a lasting molecular footprint on the body, with implications for health." later in life, "said McDade.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 1.2 billion people in the world live on less than a dollar a day.

Policies and charitable organizations that provide health support can not go that far, especially when the consequences of poverty extend beyond childhood.

This research was published in Physical anthropology.